Macbeth- The Witches Essay Example for Free

Macbeth- The Witches Essay It could be said that the witches in Macbeth, are possibly some of the best known characters in Shakespeares work. With famous words like Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble, it is true to say that they have probably heavily influenced the depiction of witches in later works to a great extent. The play derives from a time when witchcraft was something of great public concern. Extreme persecution of anyone found to be practising something that could be interpreted as black arts was common in Stuart society. (Old women who kept cats were in extreme danger of meeting the requirements for stereotypical witch) The play, which tells the fate, of the Scottish royal family, had real-life connections with the Scottish royal family at the time. The character Banquo was supposedly a relative of King James who was the King of Scotland. (Although it has been discovered that he never existed, he was made up at the birth of the Stuart dynasty) The heavy influences of the witches on the play, also matched King Jamess interest in Demonology. So the question has been asked was Macbeth written for King James? Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries witches, were terrifying but also fascinating to the general public. During this time hundreds of witches were persecuted, and were hung or burnt at stake. Witches were so greatly feared, because of the apparent powers which they possessed, which allegedly included; the ability to fly, the ability to raise storms and control the weather, possession of people, and an ability to kill livestock. However curiously inspite of these powers of deadly destruction, people took a great interest in the lives and ways of witches. (Rather like Macbeth when he meets them for the first time) Thousands of pamphlets were printed and sold with incredible sales; on a par with those achieved by a popular magazine or broadsheet today. These pamphlets contained gory accounts of witch trials, or sad stories from the victims of witchcraft. It is quite possible that these pamphlets were a catalyst for the problem with witches, by making everyone paranoid of supernatural threats. The cruel and unjust persecution of the witches was based on stereotypes. You may well have found yourself persecuted as a witch for example if you were; physically deformed or scarred in any way, old (especially if you were a woman, as many of the women persecuted as witches were old women who kept cats which were apparently familiars), mentally ill, or even if you just didnt fit in. In 1604, when Parliament passed an act, making the practice of witchcraft punishable by death, the situation got even worse. In Macbeth the witches appear four times; Act 1 Scene 1, Act1 Scene 3, Act 3 Scene 5, and Act 4 Scene 1. Although the originality of the appearance in Act 3 is controversial. It is thought that this scene and the character Hecate (who also briefly appears in Act 4) were not written by Shakespeare and that they were written into the script at a later date. In Act 1 Scene 1, the witches open the play in what is described in the text as a desolate place. The scene is brief, in the conversation that the three witches have, they decide to meet Macbeth on the heath. In Act 1 Scene 3, the three witches have gathered on the heath, and are awaiting Macbeth who is returning from battle. When Macbeth and his companion Banquo come by they move from their place of hiding and greet Macbeth: FIRST WITCH: All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Glamis. SECOND WITCH: All hail to Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor. THIRD WITCH: All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter. (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 46-48) After the witches have given this prophecy, Banquo criticises the witches and makes jokes at them calling them not like the inhabitants of this earth. Macbeth however is intrigued but before he can find out anymore the witches vanish. Act 3 Scene 5, is the controversial Hecate scene. In the scene Hecate does most of the talking, and she warns that they should not have done what they did to Macbeth. In Act 4 Scene 1, the scene begins with the witches entering and casting a spell. Then Macbeth (who is now King) enters and confronts the witches, demanding to know more about his future. In response the witches show Macbeth three apparitions which reveal his fate. The three apparitions tell Macbeth this: Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, beware Macduff. (First apparition) None of woman born shall harm Macbeth (second apparition) Macbeth shall never be vanquished until great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane shall come against him (third apparition). Macbeth is pleased by what he hears. The witches then show Macbeth a show of eight kings, after Macbeth sees this he is angered, and curses the witches, but soon after they vanish. Right from the very first scene the witches make a dramatic impression on the play. To audiences the first scene has a wonderful way of captivating them, generating attention and interest in the play from the first word. The odd setting and droning language of the witches makes the dialogue interesting and unusual. On stage or in the cinema, use of smoke, lightning and thunder effects give an exciting feel to the opening moments. The short length of the scene means that the audience is listening all the time. (Research has shown that most audiences will stop listening after about a minute unless there is something to draw their attention back to the story) Another point about the first scene is that after all the smoke and thunder, the play moves to another much more friendly place, with a normal conversation, between normal people. The comparison between the witches supernatural appearance, and the normality of human life, is an excellent way of showing the contrast between ordinary and extraordinary, and good and evil. Which is a contrast that appears throughout the play. One place where these contrasts appear between ordinary and extraordinary is in the witches. Aside from adding their weird supernatural side to the plot they also contribute in a manner that brings the whole story together. If you took the witches away from the play then this is what the storyline looks like: Macbeth an ambitious thane, is returning from a hard fought battle, when he is told that he is to receive the title of thane of Cawdor. Seeing the potential of this new position, Macbeth sets his sights on higher things. Macbeth successfully assassinates the king with the help of his wife, and scares away the heirs to the throne. On the throne Macbeth is a harsh King and, as questions arise about the Duncans murder, he becomes a tyrant and many former friends are killed. Eventually his crimes are too much and Macbeth is overthrown and killed by the true heir to the throne. Much as this is a fairly good storyline, when you add in the witches it becomes a great story. (Indeed Macbeth is recognised as a theatrical masterpiece) The witches add many new dimensions and contrasts and raise many questions. Like is fate fixed? What is the balance between good and evil? What the witches do is enter the play and tell Macbeth his prophecy, by doing this they set Macbeth off exploiting an ambitious flaw in his personality. One question that surrounds the play is whether the witches possess Macbeth and make him commit the crimes, or whether they merely use an ability to predict the future, to set Macbeth off. After this Macbeths ambition drives him on to commit many murders and a regicide. Well there is certainly evidence within the play that Macbeth is possessed. When he meets the witches for the first time he is obsessed with them and maybe this is the beginning of his possession. Macbeth also shows stereotypical signs of possession in his behaviour and speech: in Act 1 Scene 3 when Macbeth first comes across the witches Banquo says look how our partners rapt because Macbeth appears to be entranced; which was a typical sign of possession. Also he shows an inability to pray, in Act 2 Scene 2 he says Amen, stuck in my throat being unable to pray was linked to the fact that according to 17th century folk-lore the possessed was being controlled by a minion of Satan. However there is also a possibility that Macbeth is in fact only inspired by the witches when he hears his fate. Then the witches coax him on with illusions, and tricks. Like the appearance of the dagger that leads Macbeth to King Duncans room in Act 2 Scene 1, Banquos ghost in Act 3 Scene 4, and perhaps the possession of Lady Macbeth. If this is the case then one has to ask would Macbeth have become King anyway if he just waited, and that his fate was fixed that he did become a legitimate King. However his knowledge of his fate led him off course. Whichever way (if either of them) it is definite that the witches were a changing part of Macbeths psychology. As has been mentioned, when Macbeths fate is prophesised by the witches in Act 3 Scene 1, he is entranced. Perhaps this due to a possession, perhaps this is due to some form of euphoria that has come over him after he finds out that he will become King. Either way he is very serious about the witches prophecies and he holds a high view of the witches as they can provide him with information about his future, which to Macbeth sounds very promising. This stands in direct contrast to Banquos opinion of the witches; he criticises the witches and ignores their predictions. Later on the scheme of events has played out and Macbeth is on the throne, again by possession or by ambition. By now Macbeth is starting to realise the potential mess he has got himself into, and so he goes to find the witches. After receiving new information, Macbeth is fooled by the witches, into thinking he has some sort of immortality. However he does not ignore their advice and he still respects what they say, so he is not feeling so powerful that he feels he can ignore the apparitions and the witches. For example in response to the apparitions warning, beware Macduff, Macbeth has Macduffs family murdered. However the sense of immortality soon fades. When he finds that Malcolm and his allies are marching to Dunsinane Castle, he realises the tricks that the witches have played on him. He sees that the apparitions were meant to fool him into thinking he was invulnerable to death, and he refers to the witches as juggling fiends. Macbeth realises the trap that he is caught in, and sees that he was part of the witches game. At this point whatever is driving Macbeth; possession or hatred dies and turns to hate for life. Although Macbeth may have been possessed he did not ask to be, however his wife Lady Macbeth did. Similarly to Macbeth though she could either be controlled by ambition, thinking that she was possessed or actually under possession. Her need for power begins when she reads Macbeths letter In Act 1 Scene 5, she (like Macbeth when he first hears the news of his destiny) is fascinated. In the same scene as she receives the letter she calls upon the power of the spirits to un-sex her and fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty. (Lines 37-52) She demands that her emotional weakness is removed and that she is filled with the evil intent to murder the king. It shows from this time until Duncans murder that she has indeed been filled with this evil. It is she who really pushes Macbeth to murder Duncan, possibly with a little help from the witches. However almost immediately after the King is murdered, this evil leaves her. In Act 2 Scene 2, an owl shrieks, and Lady Macbeth is terrified. Just earlier that evening she had been driving and pushing Macbeth to murder the King, who had just given Macbeth a title for being faithful to the crown! Indeed she becomes so unhinged that she goes completely mad. Some productions of Macbeth have Lady Macbeth playing one of the witches. Some people have also suggested that maybe Lady Macbeth is one of the witches, and that there has been a disagreement among the witches, and the tragic events of Macbeth are in fact the witches punishing Lady Macbeth. The witches stand out in Macbeth in many ways, not only in character, and appearance, but also in the way that they speak. Most of the play is written in iambic pentameter, or blank verse. The witches however speak in trochaic verse, which not only has a different rhythm to iambic pentameter, but rhymes as well. The fact that the witches are the only characters to rhyme their speech makes them stand out; the droning chant in the first scene is made really eerie by use of rhyming language, with long syllables. The frequent use of antithesis, which is the use of opposites in the same sentence, is also common within the language of the witches. For example in Act 1 Scene 1 when the battle is lost and won This use of contradictive language sounds unusual, and therefore alienates the witches further. Sometimes the witches also speak as one; they often chant lines as a group, particularly Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble. This can appear eerie to watchers, as it conveys strength in the form of unit efficiency. Sometimes the witches seem to have a telepathic ability, for example when Macbeth demands to know more about his destiny, in Act 5 Scene 1 the script looks like this: FIRST WITCH: Speak! SECOND WITCH: Demand! THIRD WITCH: Well answer. Of course a telepathic ability is certainly not normal, and therefore this also adds to the eerie feel that surrounds the witches. Macbeth is a not only an excellent play, but also manages to bring into question various philosophical and moral issues. The supernatural edge to Macbeth makes you wonder about witches and the power of evil. Are there forces of evil, which can influence us? Are good and evil internal or external? The main issue surrounding Macbeth is that of fate. Is it fixed, is our path in life set or can we change or at least influence it? What is the relationship between fate and time? If ones fate is discovered, will it influence us to either strive for this future, or if we dont like what fate holds in store, will we try to change it? However you perceive Macbeth, I believe it is summed up like this. Whatever it was that drove Macbeth, ambition, possession or something else entirely, it poisoned him. People are around whose ambition will be a threat to society, and if you feel it exists, then witchcraft is also a threat to society. Yet de spite of these threats, the forces of good are on the side of the innocent. Order will be restored to its rightful owners.

Three Little Pigs :: essays research papers

The Three Little Pigs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once upon a time, there were three little pigs that were kicked out of their birth home by their parents and told to live life on there own. These three little pigs were ready to build their own homes and get secure jobs. The first little pig was lazy, overweight and did not like to work at all. He wanted to take the easy path, and built a house out of straw which could barely support it’s own weight. After he was finished building his insecure house of straw, he decided to visit his brothers. He danced down the dirt path, to see how they were progressing with their homes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second little pig was building himself a house also, but he too, like his brother, was a lazy little pig that did not like to work much. He also decided to take the easy path of life, and make his home simply out of sticks. In no time at all, he finished building the cheap house. However, it too was insecure. After the work was completed, the second little pig was free to do what he liked to best. He decided to dance and play his fiddle. As he played his fiddle, his brother, the first little pig arrived tooting on his stainless steel flute. They both danced while the second little pig sang: â€Å"I built my house out of sticks,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I built my house out of twigs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With a hey diddle-diddle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I play on my fiddle,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And dance all kinds of jigs.† Then, the two brothers made their way down the treacherous till they came upon the third brother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third brother, the hard working egotistical type, chose to build his house out of Acme brick. He knew the big bad wolf was waiting until they got out on their own, before he tried one of his indecorous attempts at catching a feast. Rapidly he worked, slap, slosh, slap, laying red bricks, and smoothing fresh made mortar in between each layer of bricks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ha ha ha!† laughed his two brothers as he steadily worked.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Come down and play with us!† the two little pigs yelled, but the busy little pig kept on working even harder than he was before they came. Then he yelled down to them: â€Å"I built my house of stones.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I built my house of bricks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I have no chance To sing and dance,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For work and play don’t mix.

An End to Animal Abuse Essay

â€Å"Animals are dying all over the world and becoming endangered species mostly because of animal abuse and cruelty† (James Gorman). It is a worldwide problem that will continue unless people are concerned about it or stop doing it. There should be more laws regulating child labor. Animal abuse stops scientists from researching animals. Animals become endangered species. It also causes psychological effect. Animal abuse must be abolished. One reason animal abuse must be abolished is because it stops scientists from researching other animals. â€Å"Researching animals helped make medicines for terrible diseases.† (James Gorman). One endangered animal is the chimpanzee, which is endangered because of being trapped in cages. Another reason animal abuse should be abolished is that animals die and become endangered species. â€Å"Breeds of horses face endangerment and extinction because of animal abuse.† (www.horsetradition.com). These horses get slaughtered by people for their meat because people think horses can cure HIV. Some horses are killed because of religion. Last reason animal abuse should be abolished is that animal abuse causes psychological effect. â€Å"This means animals are shy and aggressive because of being injured and hurt. The most negative thing about animal abuse is psychological effect.† (James Gorman). As you can see, there are many reasons why there should be more laws regulating animal abuse. Animals getting injured and hurt badly causes many horrible things. It makes scientists give up on their research on animals, animals get close to endangerment or extinction, and most importantly, it will cause effects when animals are hurt. If you see animals getting abused or treated bad, call the ASPCA. They are professionals and save and find homes for animals every day.

Antonio Luna, Hero of the Philippine-American War

Antonio Luna (October 29, 1866–June 5, 1899) was a soldier, chemist, musician, war strategist, journalist, pharmacist, and hot-headed general, a complex man who was, unfortunately, perceived as a threat by  the Philippines  ruthless first president  Emilio Aguinaldo. As a result, Luna died not on the battlefields of the Philippine-American War, but he was assassinated on the streets of Cabanatuan. Fast Facts: Antonio Luna Known For: Filipino Journalist, musician, pharmacist, chemist, and general in the fight for Philippine independence from the U.S.Born: October 29, 1866 in the Binondo district of Manila, PhilippinesParents: Laureana Novicio-Ancheta and Joaquin Luna de San PedroDied: June 5, 1899 in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, PhilippinesEducation: Bachelor of Arts from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1881; studied chemistry, music, and literature at the University of Santo Tomas;  licentiate in pharmacy at the Universidad de Barcelona; a doctorate from the Universidad Central de Madrid, studied bacteriology and histology at the Pasteur Institute in ParisPublished Works: Impresiones (as Taga-Ilog), On Malarial Pathology (El Hematozorio del Paludismo)Spouse(s): NoneChildren: None Early Life Antonio Luna de San Pedro y Novicio-Ancheta was born on October 29, 1866, in the Binondo district of Manila, the youngest child of seven of Laureana Novicio-Ancheta, a Spanish mestiza, and Joaquin Luna de San Pedro, a traveling salesman. Antonio was a gifted student who studied with a teacher called Maestro Intong from the age of 6 and received a Bachelor of Arts from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1881 before continuing his studies in chemistry, music, and literature at the University of Santo Tomas. In 1890, Antonio traveled to Spain to join his brother Juan, who was studying painting in Madrid. There, Antonio earned a licentiate in pharmacy at the Universidad de Barcelona, followed by a doctorate from the Universidad Central de Madrid. In Madrid, he fell obsessively in love with local beauty Nelly Boustead, who was also admired by his friend Jose Rizal. But it came to nothing, and Luna never married. He went on to study bacteriology and histology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and continued on to Belgium to further those pursuits. While in Spain, Luna had published a well-received paper on malaria, so in 1894 the Spanish government appointed him to a post as a specialist in communicable and tropical diseases. Swept Into the Revolution Later that same year, Antonio Luna returned to the Philippines where he became the chief chemist of the Municipal Laboratory in Manila. He and his brother Juan established a fencing society called the Sala de Armas in the capital. While there, the brothers were approached about joining the Katipunan, a revolutionary organization founded by Andres Bonifacio in response to the 1892 banishment of Jose Rizal, but both Luna brothers refused to participate—at that stage, they believed in a gradual reform of the system rather than a violent revolution against Spanish colonial rule. Although they were not members of the Katipunan, Antonio, Juan, and their brother Jose were all arrested and imprisoned in August 1896 when the Spanish learned that the organization existed. His brothers were interrogated and released, but Antonio was sentenced to exile in Spain  and imprisoned in the Carcel Modelo de Madrid. Juan, by this time a famed painter, used his connections with the Spanish royal family to secure Antonios release in 1897. After his exile and imprisonment, understandably, Antonio Lunas attitude toward Spanish colonial rule had shifted. Due to the arbitrary treatment of himself and his brothers and the execution of his friend Jose Rizal the previous December, Luna was ready to take up arms against Spain. In his typically academic fashion, Luna decided to study guerrilla warfare tactics, military organization, and field fortification under the famous Belgian military educator Gerard Leman before he sailed to Hong Kong. There, he met with the revolutionary leader-in-exile, Emilio Aguinaldo, and in July 1898 he returned to the Philippines to take up the fight once more. General Antonio Luna As the Spanish/American War came to a close and the defeated Spanish prepared to withdraw from the Philippines, Filipino revolutionary troops surrounded the capital city of Manila. The newly-arrived officer Antonio Luna urged the other commanders to send troops into the city to ensure a joint occupation when the Americans arrived, but Emilio Aguinaldo refused, believing U.S. naval officers stationed in Manila Bay would hand over power to the Filipinos in due course. Luna complained bitterly about this strategic blunder, as well as the disorderly conduct of American troops once they landed in Manila in mid-August 1898. To placate Luna, Aguinaldo promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General on September 26, 1898, and named him chief of war operations. General Luna continued to campaign for better military discipline, organization, and approach to Americans, who were now setting themselves up as the new colonial rulers. Along with Apolinario Mabini, Antonio Luna warned Aguinaldo that the Americans did not seem inclined to free the Philippines. General Luna felt the need for a military academy to properly train the Filipino troops, who were eager and in many cases experienced in guerrilla warfare but had little formal military training. In October 1898, Luna founded what is now the Philippine Military Academy, which operated for less than half a year before the Philippine-American War broke out in February of 1899 and classes were suspended so that staff and students could join the war effort. The Philippine-American War General Luna led three companies of soldiers to attack the Americans at La Loma, where he was met with a ground force and naval artillery fire from the fleet in Manila Bay. The Filipinos suffered heavy casualties. A Filipino counterattack on February 23 gained some ground but collapsed when troops from Cavite refused to take orders from General Luna, stating that they would obey only Aguinaldo himself. Furious, Luna disarmed the recalcitrant soldiers but was forced to fall back. After several additional bad experiences with the undisciplined and clannish Filipino forces, and after Aguinaldo had rearmed the disobedient Cavite troops as his personal Presidential Guard, a thoroughly frustrated General Luna submitted his resignation to Aguinaldo, which Aguinaldo reluctantly accepted.  With the war going very badly for the Philippines over the next three weeks, however, Aguinaldo persuaded Luna to return and made him commander-in-chief. Luna developed and implemented a plan to contain the Americans long enough to construct a guerrilla base in the mountains. The plan consisted of a network of bamboo trenches, complete with spiked man-traps and pits full of poisonous snakes, which spanned the jungle from village to village. Filipino troops could fire on the Americans from this Luna Defense Line, and then melt away into the jungle without exposing themselves to American fire. Conspiracy Among the Ranks However, late in May Antonio Lunas brother Joaquin—a colonel in the revolutionary army—warned him that a number of the other officers were conspiring to kill him. General Luna ordered that many of these officers be disciplined, arrested, or disarmed and they bitterly resented his rigid, authoritarian style, but Antonio made light of his brothers warning and reassured him that President Aguinaldo would not allow anyone to assassinate the armys commander-in-chief. To the contrary, General Luna received two telegrams on June 2, 1899. The first asked him to join a counterattack against the Americans at San Fernando, Pampanga and the second was from Aguinaldo, ordering Luna to the new capital, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, about 120 kilometers due north of Manila, where the Philippines revolutionary government was forming a new cabinet. Ever ambitious, and hopeful of being named Prime Minister, Luna decided to go to Nueva Ecija with a cavalry escort of 25 men. However, due to transportation difficulties, Luna arrived in Nueva Ecija accompanied only by two other officers, Colonel Roman and Captain Rusca, with the troops having been left behind. Death On June 5, 1899, Luna went alone to the government headquarters to speak with President Aguinaldo but was met by one of his old enemies there instead—a man he had once disarmed for cowardice, who informed him that the meeting was canceled and Aguinaldo was out of town. Furious, Luna had started to walk back down the stairs when a rifle shot went off outside. Luna ran down the stairs, where he met one of the Cavite officers he had dismissed for insubordination.  The officer struck Luna on the head with his bolo and soon Cavite troops swarmed the injured general, stabbing him. Luna drew his revolver and fired, but he missed his attackers. Still, he fought his way out to the plaza, where Roman and Rusca ran to help him, but Roman was shot to death and Rusca was severely injured. Abandoned and alone, Luna sank bleeding to the cobblestones of the plaza where he uttered his last words: Cowards!  Assassins!  He died at 32 years old. Legacy As Aguinaldos guards assassinated his most able general, the president himself was laying siege to the headquarters of General Venacio Concepcion, an ally of the murdered general. Aguinaldo then dismissed Lunas officers and men from the Filipino Army. For the Americans, this internecine fighting was a gift. General James F. Bell noted that Luna was the only general the Filipino army had and Aguinaldos forces suffered disastrous defeat after disastrous defeat in the wake of Antonio Lunas murder. Aguinaldo spent most of the next 18 months in retreat, before being captured by the Americans on March 23, 1901. Sources Jose, Vivencio R. The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna. Solar Publishing Corporation, 1991.Reyes, Raquel A. G. Antonio Lunas Impressions. Love, Passion and Patriotism: Sexuality and the Philippine Propaganda Movement, 1882–1892. Singapore and Seattle : NUS Press and University of Washington Press, 2008. 84–114.Santiago, Luciano P.R. â€Å"The First Filipino Doctors of Pharmacy (1890–93).† Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society 22.2, 1994. 90–102.